Leaves in the Dark
by Kristiel and Apricity
Summary: Leafpaw is just an ordinary apprentice, until one day, she finds a twoleg kit in the middle of the forest. The twoleg can speak like a cat! What kind of twoleg does that?
1. Chapter 1

"Leafkit! Cherrykit! Get over here!" Stormclaw, a grey she-cat called. Her daughters, Leafkit, who had a tortoiseshell pelt, and Cherrykit, who was a light brown color, padded over to their mother reluctantly.

"Your pelts are filthy! I can't believe you thought I would let you get apprenticed looking like that!" She frowned at her kits. Their pelts were covered in dust and burrs.

"But I hate being clean…" Leafkit grumbled as her mother cleaned her. But she was too excited about her apprentice ceremony to even care.

"Me, too," Cherrykit replied in the same tone.

"I don't care," their mother mewed, starting to take burrs out of their pelts with her teeth. Leafkit sighed.

When the two sisters were clean, Stormclaw let them go, but soon, Fernstar called a meeting.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the boulder for a clan meeting!" the grey she-cat called from her perch on top of the boulder.

Leafkit and Cherrykit excitedly ran over to the boulder where Fernstar was, but ended up tripping over each other, landing in a heap in the middle of everyone in the clan.

Everyone started to laugh, making Leafkit's ears burn in embarrassment. She looked over to her sister, who was smiling. Then Fernstar started to speak.

"Cherrykit, please come forward," Fernstar said loudly. Cherrykit padded over to her. "From this day onward, until you have received your warrior name, you will be known as Cherrypaw." Cherrypaw's green eyes gleamed with pride. The leader licked her shoulder and the new apprentice stepped back.

Fernstar turned to a silver she-cat. "Rivertail, you have showed this clan your courage and bravery over and over again. I trust you to teach all of your knowledge and pass it down to this young cat," Fernstar meowed to the silver warrior.

"I will. I promise!" Rivertail replied confidently. Cherrypaw padded up to her to touch noses with her, then stepped back into the crowd of cats. Cherrypaw hopped over to where Leafkit was sitting impatiently, constantly flicking her tail.

"Leafkit, please come forward." The tortoiseshell kit walked over to where Fernstar was sitting. She was burning with excitement. Who will my mentor be? Who will they be!?

"From this day onward, until you have received your warrior name, you will be known as Leafpaw." Leafpaw licked her shoulder respectfully and took a step back.

Fernstar turned to another silver she-cat. "Seastorm, just like your sister, you have shown your courage and bravery too many times to count. I trust that you will pass down all of your intelligence down to this cat." Fernstar said to her.

"I will Fernstar, I won't let you down," Seastorm mewed. Leafpaw went to sit next to Cherrypaw.

"Leafpaw, Cherrypaw! Leafpaw, Cherrypaw!" the whole clan yelled.

"I can't believe we're apprentices! It's gonna be so great!" Cherrypaw squealed excitedly. "We're gonna go hunting, and do border patrols, and fighting and practi-" She was interrupted when Leafpaw pushed her with a paw playfully.

"Hey!" her sister yelped. Then jumped on her and rolled across the ground tusseling. Rivertail walked over and watched in amusement as the two sisters play-fought on the ground.

"Hey, you two should get some sleep. We're going to go explore the territory tomorrow," She said. They stopped fighting.

"Okay, Rivertail…" they replied simultaneously. They headed to the apprentices' den. There were already Swiftpaw and Jaypaw already in there. They became apprentices one moon before them, and were the only other apprentices

"We made you some nests!" Jaypaw said. He looked cheerful, as usual. He pointed toi the nests with his tail. They were next to each other, and between Jaypaw's and Swiftpaw's.

"Thanks. I am tired." Cherrypaw mumbled. She went over to her nest and practically fell into it. Leafpaw walked around in circles a couple times, getting comfortable. It wasn't quite the same without sleeping next to their mother, but Leafpaw was glad she still had her sister next to her.

0o0o0

It felt like such a long time ago, when she and her sister became apprentices, but it had only been a moon. Leafpaw yawned. She went out of the apprentices' den and snatched a small mouse from the fresh kill pile. She sat by herself and began to eat.

A moon ago, she would have gotten some for her sister, too, but she was with Swiftpaw all the time, not paying any attention to her. Even when Cherrypaw goes hunting she's with Swiftpaw, always mooning over him. When is she going to realize that Swiftpaw is a jerk to everybody?

"I'm gonna go hunting," Leafpaw mewed to herself. She sighed and exited the camp, the brown leaves crunching beneath her paws. She walked by herself through forest, shivering a bit. as she walked. She tasted the air and smelled a mouse, but when she found it, it was already dead and was covered in frost. Yuck! She through a bunch of leaves on it and pushed it by the tree.

After a while, the tortoiseshell apprentice sighed, her tail drooped in disappointment. All the prey was hiding in their dens from the cold of leafbare. Leafpaw was hoping that this leaf bare wouldn't be as bad a the last one, when she was a kit. She remembered watching her sisters shiver from the snow that was falling into the nursery. Their other sister, Robinkit, didn't make it that leaf-bare, and went up to StarClan, where she would be cared for. As she started to head back, she heard something from behind the bushes.

She carefully padded toward the bush, poking her head through.

It was a twoleg kit drinking from a big pond! She froze in fear. As the twoleg kit noticed her, she unfroze and turned to run.

"Wait!" the twoleg kit meowed. "Please don't leave me alone!"

What...? Did that twoleg just meow?

In surprise, Leafpaw peeked around the sunbaked rock that she hid against. The twoleg kit had pale skin instead of fur, he was covered in something weird, and on the top of his head, he had very, very dark fur.

"I don't want to be alone! My clan is… lost..." the two-leg kit mewed.

"Y-your clan?" Leafpaw's eyes widened. "How are you speaking cat?"

"My druid clan. I'm a druid," he replied in a sad tone. "You can understand me because druids can understand most animals, and take the forms of several different animals." Leafpaw fell on the ground. She skittered across the hard rocky ground to get back up. Did the twoleg just say he can turn into ANIMALS?

"My clan was the only clan of druids with humans. Elves are usually druids, not humans."

"Sorry… Elves? Humans?" Leafpaw cocked her head to the side, confused.

"I'm a human," he explained. "Elves are like humans in form, but they have green, blue, red, or white skin. Their eyes glow white, and they are much, much taller than humans. They also have very, very long ears." He sounded very happy to be able to talk to a living thing.

"Oh." Leafpaw thought it was the strangest thing to talk to a twoleg… or… human.

"Elves don't live around here, though, they live in the north, in the middle of the Veiled Sea." He sighed, grabbing onto his shoulder. He yelped in pain as he touched it with his paw.

"Are you okay?" Leafpaw asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I can fix it." He took off the thing that was covering the top half of him, revealing a nasty wound on his shoulder. He started waving his hands, and brought them up over his head. Green light surrounded him, and his shoulder slowly started to mend itself.

Leafpaw's light green eyes widened as much as was possible. "What did you just do?!"

"I cast a Rejuvenation spell, the easiest healing spell," he poorly explained.

"What does that mean?!" Leafpaw saw that the boy's shoulder was completely healed.

"Druids can use magic. Watch." He started to wave his hands, and a yellow ball of light appeared between them. He gave one big thrust at the pond, and the yellow ball of light shot out of his hands, leaving a trail. It hit a huge fish that was swimming in the pond, and it killed it.

"Perfect!" he ran into the water, and disappeared in a small cloud of white smoke. A strange-looking animal took his place, and swam to the fish. It picked the fish up with its teeth, and brought it back to shore. It disappeared in the same white smoke, and the twoleg reappeared.

He took the fish out of his mouth, smiling. "This is going to be a great meal!"

"How did you just…?" Leafpaw gawked at the druid twoleg.

"I told you I could turn into several animals, remember?" He put the fish down. "Watch." The white smoke engulfed him again, and he became a giant bear. Then, a living tree which was not an animal, then a giant feathery bird without wings, then a deer, then a raven, and finally a black cat.

"This is my personal favorite." He flicked his tail happily. "Oh! I didn't tell you my name! It's Namir. What's yours?"

"Umm… Leafpaw." She was still gawking at this twoleg. But he wasn't a twoleg anymore! He was a cat! And as a cat, she could see that he was about the same age as her. He had black fur and golden eyes. He had a cheerful face and meowed happily.

"Leafpaw… what a strange name!" he mewed cheerfully. "But my name probably sounds strange. My mother told me that my name means "swift cat" in the Elven tongue." His expression suddenly changed to one of sadness and despair. "Mother…" Suddenly, he collapsed.

Leafpaw started to panic. She ran back to the camp, into the medicine den, where she found Moonfrost the medicine cat. She had silver fur, a white tail tip, and blue eyes.

"Moonfrost!" the tortoiseshell apprentice cried. "There's a cat in the forest, and he just collapsed!"

Moonfrost, remembering what she had pledged long ago, nodded. "Where?"

"This way!" Leafpaw ran out of the den, letting the older medicine cat follow.

Rainsplash, a senior warrior, watched as Moonfrost and his daughter ran out of the camp. "What do you think is going on with them, Stormclaw?" he asked his mate. She shrugged. He licked her head affectionately. "I'm sure it's nothing."

When the two she-cats reached the area by the big pond, they found Namir, still a cat, thankfully.

"What's wrong with him?" Leafpaw asked anxiously.

"He's exhausted," Moonfrost mewed. "He's almost dead."

**DUN DUN DUNNN…. Hey guys Apricity here! Did you like your cliffhanger? I made it just for you! Mwahahahhahahhahaha! Anyways, please Favorite, Follow, and Review please! Because if we don't get support… well… then… I get bored XD Anyways. Tell us what you think about the whole druid idea! Did you like it, do you want him to become a clan cat or whatever. Anyways take care! *Flies away on magic cookie***

_*watches Apricity fly away* Hi, I'm Kristiel! I totally wrote most of this chapter… muahahahahah… I really hope you like this idea! It was MY IDEAAAA! I based it off of something, but it's not like I'm gonna say what it is, because o one will probably know what the heck it's based off of! Not even Apricity knows! Anyway, please R&R! Bye! *disapparates*_


	2. Chapter 2

"We're going to have to carry him to the camp, so I can treat him. Can you help me pick him up?" Moonfrost asked. Leafpaw nodded silently, eyes wide. She was worried that the druid was severely hurt. She hoped it wasn't anything like that.

Leafpaw with the help of Moonfrost, took a scruff of the cat and hauled him two cats started to walk forward as they carried the druid back to the camp. For a cat, he was unnaturally heavy. It might have something to do with him being able to turn into different animals, she thought.

They trotted into the camp and through the brambles that marked the entrance to the camp. They cats in the clan started to crowd around them muttering things and asking questions. They started crowding around to much and the medicine cat started to hiss.

"Get out of the way, I can't get to the medicine den if you are all in my way!" Moonfrost snapped at the curious crowd. A few of them took a couple steps back. They stepped out of the way, making a pathway for the two cats carrying the black cat. When they got him to the medicine den, Moonfrost got to work, examining Namir.

"He has a small injury on his shoulder that's a bit infected, and he appears to be extremely exhausted," Moonfrost diagnosed. "He just needs some burdock root and cobwebs applied to his shoulder, some poppy seeds, and sleep."

Leafpaw sighed in relief. It was nothing serious, he just collapsed from pure exhaustion. She remembered how Moonfrost hissed at the crowd of cats, and decided that it was probably best if she left the den and let Moonfrost tend to Namir's wound.

She started to walk out of the vine covered den, but Moonfrost stopped her.

"You can stay, if you want. He's in a strange place, so he'll probably freak out if there's nothing familiar to him. You should probably stay. You can explain what happened when he wakes up."

"Okay," Leafpaw replied. She went over to Namir's unconscious form, and sat next to him.

Moonfrost went into the back, to get some herbs. She started to treat his wound, while Leafpaw spectated. After she finished, Moonfrost started to leave.

"I need to go collect some herbs, you stay here, okay?" Leafpaw nodded, and Moonfrost left. Leafpaw gave a small thanks to StarClan, because if he suddenly turned into an animal, Moonfrost would probably freak out.

"Whoa!" Namir suddenly jolted awake. "What in Elune's name is going on?"

"You fell unconscious from exhaustion," Leafpaw explained. She looked around, making sure no one was listening, and added in a whisper, "Don't turn into any other animal or change pelts, my clan could freak out, and I don't know what they would do to you."

"Oh…" Namir gave her a weak laugh. "I know why I fell unconscious. I wasn't being careful. I haven't gone into the Emerald Dream to complete my training yet, so my powers can take a lot out of me," he explained.

"Emerald Dream?" Leafpaw cocked her head curiously.

"The Emerald Dream is a place where druids go to complete their training. I don't know what it's like, though. The ones that have gone there aren't supposed to tell others what they've seen. When I go there, I will fall into a very deep sleep, and not wake up until it's over."

"Oh… that's strange…" Leafpaw mewed.

"So… where am I?" Namir asked.

"This is the medicine cat's den in my camp," she answered. "Moonfrost is the medicine cat."

"A medicine cat? Like, a healer?" the black tom asked curiously.

"Well, I can't answer that, because I don't know what a healer is."

"That's okay." He chuckled. "So, you have a camp? You're in a group of cats?"

"Yes, we're called PondClan. I'm an apprentice, and when I complete my apprenticeship, I will be a warrior!" Her eyes sparkled with ambition.

"Wow, so, you have a leader, as well?"

"And a deputy. Fernstar is our leader, and my father, Rainsplash, is our deputy."

"Moonfrost, Fernstar, Leafpaw, Rainsplash... you guys have odd names. I'm Namir."

"Yes, I know, you already told me." Leafpaw chuckled at the black cat. "I'll explain why our names are strange." She cleared her throat.

"When a kit is born, their parents name them something, ending with 'kit', like 'Leafkit'. When they reach six moons, they become an apprentice, and get a mentor to teach them how to be a warrior, hunting, fighting, anything.

"Most cats have a specialty, for example, a fisher, or a tree-climber, or floor-hunter. These sometimes even determine their warrior name, which is the name they get when they complete their apprenticeship. My father became Rainsplash, after his specialty, fisher, when he was Rainpaw before. There is only one other time when a cat can change their name, and that is if they become leader. They go to the Tree, and receive nine lives and their final name, ending in -star, from StarClan, our dead ancestors. Fernstar is an example. Before she became leader, I heard that she was called 'Ferntimber'." Leafpaw gasped for breath.

"Wow… that is a very complicated process…" Namir laughed.

Leafpaw smiled. "Haha. Well, your druid stuff is complicated." Leafpaw nudged him playfully with her front paw.

"Maybe…" Namir giggled.

"Oh, look, you're awake," Moonfrost mewed with a mouthful of herbs as she came in through the entrance. She walked into the back, where she had her stash of herbs, and came back moments later, herb-free.

"Wow. Herbs certainly are in abundance this year," Leafpaw mewed to the medicine cat.

"I know. It's weird. There's usually not that many around this season," Moonfrost replied. "Okay, let's check that shoulder injury." She took off the cobwebs, finding it perfectly fine.

"What?" Moonfrost exclaimed.

"Rejuvenation is a healing overtime spell," Namir mewed under his breath. Moonfrost didn't hear him, but Leafpaw did. He winked at her. Leafpaw smiled at the darkly colored cat. She knew that Namir could do extraordinary things, but that didn't mean that she was any less surprised.

She thought about the things that he had told her. The Emerald Dream, spells, shapeshifting. It was a lot for even her.

"T-That shouldn't be possible!" Moonfrost stood back, flabbergasted at what had just happened. She stumbled back a step on the soft earthy ground. The leaves crumpled at the pressure of her back paws.

"Hmm… maybe the injury was just a figment of your imagination," Namir mewed, trying not to laugh. "You might be really stressed out from all the…" He hesitated for a second trying to quickly think.

"Sickness," Leafpaw whispered under her breath.

"From all the sickness," Namir said smoothly.

Moonfrost suspiciously looked at Namir. "I remember seeing an injury on your shoulder."

Leafpaw spoke up. "I don't. Maybe you really did imagine it." She was trying not to laugh as well.

"I guess you're right. I am stressed out." As she said this, she still looked suspicious, but she let it go. "Even if you aren't injured, you need to stay in PondClan for a little while so I can make sure."

"Okay," Namir chirped. He grinned. "It'll be fun to see how a cat clan works."

Moonfrost nodded. Suddenly, Fernstar came in. The leader of the clan stood proudly, a strong sense of authority radiating off of her. "Hello, Moonfrost," she mewed. She turned to the strange black cat.

"Who are you?" she asked kindly.

"I'm Namir!" he answered cheerfully. "I'm guessing you're Fernstar." He dipped his head in respect.

"That I am," she replied, smiling.

"I was just checking him over to make sure he wasn't injured," Moonfrost mewed. "He's going to have to stay here, in the camp, for a few days."

"I see. Namir, you're welcome in PondClan."

"Thank you, Fernstar," he mewed.

"Leafpaw, you can show him around, if you want," the leader of PondClan told the apprentice.

"Okay!" she chirped. "Namir, come on!" She ran out of the medicine den, past Fernstar. Namir followed, laughing.

_I wrote most of this. Meow. WHAT DO YOU THINK SHALL HAPPEN. PUT IT IN A REVIEW. REVIEW. PLEASE. REVIEW. PRETTY PLEASE. ;-;_

**Please review and make sure to favorite and follow because otherwise we will eat your cookies.**

_Yeah, what he said._


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